Many motor boats which are used for fishing have a relatively powerful inboard engine for powering the boat. When fishing by trolling for example the boat is slowly moved through the water. The main inboard engine is not really suitable for this, although it can be used. However, a smaller engine would be more efficient. To this end an outboard engine is sometimes hung on the transom of the boat and run, with the main engine off, to slowly move the boat through the water when trolling. However, the outboard engine may overhang the stern of the boat by about 1 meter. This has a number of disadvantages. Firstly, there is a danger of damaging the outboard engine, particularly when manoeuvring the boat in confined spaces such as when mooring the boat for example. Also, the increased length means a longer mooring berth is required for the boat and this can increase the mooring charges.
It is known in the art, see for example GB 1 129 478, U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,197 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,602 to provide an auxiliary engine such as an outboard motor in a purpose-built compartment at the aft end of a boat. The outboard motor can be moved on a support frame between a raised stored position within a compartment and a lowered deployed position in the water for powering the boat. This arrangement requires the building of a compartment into the boat to house the auxiliary engine and generally would have to be incorporated in the boat design when building the boat. It would certainly be difficult to fit such a compartment to a boat after construction of the boat. Furthermore, considerable space is required within the hull at the aft end of the boat to accommodate the compartment. Such space is not always readily available, particularly for example when an inboard engine is provided in the boat as the primary propulsion system for the boat. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,390,864 there is disclosed a sliding mount for mounting an outboard motor on a boat. The mount can slide between a raised horizontal position on the deck and a lowered vertical position behind the transom to support the outboard motor in the water for powering the boat. Another outboard engine support is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,928,630 which is operable for sliding the outboard engine up and down on the transom of a boat between a raised position and a lowered in-use position. The support and the outboard engine overhang the stern of the boat in both the raised and lowered positions. The support when raised can be pivoted into the boat to invert the engine for maintenance if required.
The present invention is directed towards overcoming the aforementioned problems.